Nashville’s Community Oversight Board (COB) named Jill Fitcheard its permanent executive director after a unanimous vote Wednesday night. The decision came during Metro Nashville’s Human Resources Department meeting.
“Mrs. Fitcheard’s commitment to the mission and purpose of the Community Oversight Board, and most importantly to the Nashville community, is unparalleled and her leadership has been instrumental to the success and continuity of the COB’s efforts,” Chair Ashlee Davis said. “The COB congratulates her on this deserving appointment and looks forward to this continued work and progress with her as our Executive Director.”
The board previously appointed Fitcheard, then-COB’s assistant director, to fill in after the executive director after William Weeden resigned two weeks ago due to the job being “extremely stressful” and “no longer being a good fit.”
“Mr. Weeden’s decision to resign and end his service in such an abrupt manner is both startling and disappointing, but it will no way disrupt our process,” Davis said when Weeden resigned. “The indispensable work of the COB and MNCO staff will continue to move forward because the city and communities of Nashville have that expectation and we all remain committed to this work. We have made incredible progress over the last year, and I look forward to continuing this work as we move forward.”
Going forward, the COB’s new executive director will need to mend fences between the oversight board and the city’s police officers. Weeden, when he was executive director, clashed with law enforcement in Nashville. The two parties failed to create a memorandum in October on how they can successfully work together.
On November 21, the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct dismissed an ethics complaint the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) had filed against the COB. FOP alleged COB member Brenda Ross interfered with a police investigation.
Previously, Fitcheard was a former police officer and has held many jobs since moving to the Music City in 1996. She has worked for the city of Nashville, in the private sector and for the state of Tennessee.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. If you have any tips, email Zachery at [email protected].
Background Photo “Nashville City Hall” by Nicolas Henderson. CC BY 2.0.
